Dark Night: Climbing Mount Carmel

Translated from the Spanish: En Una Noche Oscrua, by by St. John of the Cross.*
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Songs of the soul that longs to arrive at that high state of Perfection, which is union with God, through the via negativa.
 

In the dark of night
Aflame with the craving of love’s fire
What luck!
I left when no one noticed
While my house was hushed in sleep.

In the dark of night
Safely, by disguise and a secret stairway
How lucky!
By darkness and deceit
While my house was still asleep.

In that auspicious night
In secret, where no one saw me
And I saw nothing —
There was no light to see by
But the love-flame in my heart.

And that light led me on!
Brighter than the sun at noon
Led me to where He waited
The One who saw me true
Who waited in a place that no one knew.

Oh night, guiding me on!
Oh night, more precious to me than the dawn!
Oh night that united
The Beloved and the Lover,
The Lover transformed into the Beloved!

My heart blossomed like a flower
Grown and tended just for Him
And there, while He slept
I held Him close
The cedars’ breath fanned a breeze for us.

From the battlements, a gust of wind
Ruffled His hair
His sweet hand touched my neck
And wounded me there —
All my senses were suspended in the air!

In that perfection, blessed, I rested still,
My face against the Lover’s breast
Everything stopped
I dropped it all
Forgetting my self, there, among the lilies.

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*St. John of the Cross (San Juan de la Cruz) was born June 24, 1542 at Fontiveras, Spain, a small village near Avila. He was a Carmelite friar, a mystic and a leading figure in the Catholic Reformation. Along with his friend and mentor, St. Teresa of Avila, he was one of the founders of the Discalced (Reformed) Carmelite order.  He died December 14, 1591.